Kuala Lumpur - Disappointment at the Colonial Cafe, Majestic Hotel

I'd been hearing quite a bit of flak about the Majestic Hotel's eateries, but my only previous experience there - an afternoon tea with a visiting relative from Scotland, was a very pleasant affair: lovely scones, beautiful jams and delicate pastries, so I was willing to give the Majestic Hotel the benefit of the doubt.

But my curiousity was somewhat piqued recently by some bended knee write-ups about the Colonial Cafe in one of Malaysia's leading food magazines.

The chicken chop, for instance, was described as being "beaten to death, the old-fashioned way ... by no less than a gold-hued mallet". The sauce blanketing the chicken chop was described as "... thick, slightly sweet gravy redolent of cloves, laden with fresh peas, potatoes and the equally sweet scent of treasured nostalgia". Excuse me?!

Anyway, as they say, curiousity killed the cat - I ordered the eyebrow-raising RM75++ (USD25++) chicken chop this evening. It was, to put it mildly, one-dimensional and a total let-down after the superlatives from the said glowing review. It's also priced at least 2-3 times higher than that charged elsewhere in KL.

My dinner actually started off quite well: The Colonial Cafe's rendition of the Mulligatawny soup was delicious: more a liquid minced chicken stew than soup, gently flavored with a delicious, subtle spice base, and better than any other version of the soup I'd ever had anywhere. At RM45++, it was also twice the price one would pay for a soup in a similar hotel-restaurant or upmarket eatery elsewhere in KL. Then, came the chicken chop let-down.

The dessert - a Spotted Dick - also failed to salvage my opinion of the place. The version here was over-steamed and tasted both dry and plasticky, blanketed by a custard sauce which was bland and pretty tasteless. Very disappointed here.

The only saving grace? The knowledgeable, efficient and personable Filipina waitress who served me this evening.